Wondering what experiences any of you have had with this antenna. I was thinking an MFJ 10 watt SSB rig with this antenna might be a fun picnic table station??

I've read a few reviews regarding it. Some seem to think it's the anti-christ and others seem to feel it's the second coming of christ. Just wondering what you all think. I should preface this by saying I realize it's not the "ideal" antenna for portable and that it is a compromise antenna. Thanks.

I've had a Miracle Whip for a couple of years and have used it several times at home and on vacations with my Yaesu FT-817ND. It does work. But understand that with this antenna you are trading efficiency for portability and ease of operation. The first time I tried it I put the FT-817ND on our dining room table with the antenna attached. On 20 meter CW I ran 5 watts and worked two European stations and a fellow in the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of Africa. All three DX stations were running big antennas. Without those, I doubt the contacts could have been made. All three gave me reports like 449, 549 and 559. Nothing great but the fact they heard me with this antenna while indoors was a minor miracle, I thought!

I've now used it twice while on vacation, once from a beach. I made several statewide contacts on 20m CW, and worked a couple of guys in the Caribbean and Central America. These contacts were made at 2.5 watts while I ran the 817 on internal batteries. I use a single 16-foot long radial wire attached to the ground screw on the rig's rear panel. Using this antenna cancels out the need to use an antenna tuner so it simplifies the antenna stuff you have to take with you. I also have a BuddiStick antenna and I get better reports with it but the antenna is longer and more efficient. But you can't attach it to the rear of the radio like the Miracle Whip.

I have decent radio equipment in my home station which includes a 60-foot tower and 3-element multi-band yagi and a horizontal loop for 80 through 30 meters. That antenna really plays too. But sometimes I feel the degree of challenge is pretty low when it comes to working DX with my home station. So to keep things interesting and challenging -- just to see if I can make contacts -- I use the Miracle Whip and the 817. I've got a couple of other QRP rigs that I plan to try it with, including a MFJ CW monoband rig, and will probably buy one of the Chinese made QRP rigs to play with too.

If you buy a Miracle Whip, just understand what you're getting into. It does work, it is convenient but you probably won't be breaking too many pile-ups. But you can and will make some QSOs. Some guys like that and the challenge it presents while others are turned off and might criticize the antenna. The way I see it, you can't repeal the laws of physics. A small whip antenna like that can only work so well because of its length but I think it's run to play around with it.

From the time I was a kid, I've been fascinated with the idea of making long distance radio contacts with a self-contained rig -- meaning the antenna is sticking out the back and is highly portable. Making a few contacts like that makes me feel like a kid -- and a new ham -- again because those QSOs are "miracles." hi hi

73, Dave, N4KZPS--Have you read the eHam product reviews for the antenna? There's also a Yahoo users group and several YouTube videos featuring this antenna so you can see it in action before you buy. Good Luck!!

Just as Miracle Whip isn't real mayonnaise but a compromise that will work in some situations, the Miracle Whip isn't an efficient antenna, but it will probably radiate more power than most dummy loads.

You can't fool mother nature Any time you make an antenna physically small the radiation resistance goes down and the losses go up. That means that the amount of power radiated for a given input decreases. There is no way around it. Any mfg that tells you otherwise is not telling you the truth.

For a particular senario "small" may be more important to you than "efficient" - but you'll have to make that decision. Just know that you are making that trade-off in every case.

I have a Miracle Whip, a Buddi-Pole, an MFJ Super Hi-Q Loop and other stuff for portable use.

#1 best performer is almost always a wire tossed over a high tree limb, but of course that requires the tree limb. I don't have the patience to plant a seed and wait for a tree to grow, so in some places you just have to do something else.

For my portable HF ops on the higher bands, the MFJ Super Hi-Q Loops outperform everything else, hands-down. No comparison at all. I'm talking the difference between making hundreds of very easy contacts vs. making lots of calls and working almost nobody.

The loop can be hung from a low tree limb with a short rope, or propped on a picnic bench.

After that, the BuddiPole is pretty good and a whole lot better than the Miracle Whip; however it takes some time to deploy and adjust, and the adjustment part is tiresome if you don't have an antenna analyzer handy.

The Miracle Whip comes in a distant fourth. It can make contacts when propagation does all the work, but it's not even remotely close to a larger antenna that only takes two minutes to set up.

Then again, if it's the only antenna you have, it's "perfect!" Just as a dipole "works great," if you don't have a beam to compare it to.

Miracle Antenna's products are high quality and interesting little gadgets...not serious stuff, but fun nonetheless. I have the original back-of-the-set model and with my ft-817 and a gel cell battery, I worked my friend Charles down in Montgomery, Alabama from my front porch in Tennessee on 75 meter ssb a few years ago. Of course, he was doing most of the work by hearing me at all...

I also have the "ducker" in-line model and it really perks up the ears of my Alinco x-10 handheld receiver.

I bought the Miracle Antenna q-pack tuner a few years ago with the hopes of doing some back-packing, but I haven't used it yet...it will be there when I get one of those "round tuits"...

I would highly recommend these little gems IF you understand that they are mainly for the gadgeteer and you are one who does a lot of listening on his/her portable rig. Making a contact is just icing on the cake. They are just terminally cute...

My cut is its a short loaded whip with no ground plane. However having made contactswith that and worse recognize what it is. You trade losses for size/convenience.

Me an end fed tuner, some #22 insulated wire and a collapsible fiberglass breen/crappypole (20ft) some light weight rope(parachute line) does the trick and avoids the need for trees. It will be reasonably efficient too.

I have a question. If I take the Miracle Whip attached to my FT-817nd and place it on the top of my Saturn VUE will the vehicle act as a sufficient counterpoise to allow for some DX QRP work? I have a very nice spot where I can take my truck up to about 980 feet above sea level and have a terrific shot to the north-east towards Europe.73, K2PHD (Doc)

I have a question. If I take the Miracle Whip attached to my FT-817nd and place it on the top of my Saturn VUE will the vehicle act as a sufficient counterpoise to allow for some DX QRP work? I have a very nice spot where I can take my truck up to about 980 feet above sea level and have a terrific shot to the north-east towards Europe.73, K2PHD (Doc)

Without a direct connection from the rig's chassis/antenna gnd to the vehicle frame, the rig would be dependant upon whatever amount of capacitive coupling that would exist between the rig's chassis and the vehicle. I wouldn't depend on that.

However, a simple wire lead with alligator clip to the truck frame or some other good clean ground point would be the way I'd try it.

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